1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector, more particularly to an electrical connector adapted to connect two signal transmission cables each with a plurality of transmission wires.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional signal transmission cable 1 is shown to include four twisted-pairs of transmission lines 13. Each twisted-pair includes two conductive transmission wires 12 with insulated sheaths 11 coated thereon. The signal transmission cable 1 is provided with a wire terminal plug 14 which terminates the transmission lines 13. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, when it is desired to electrically connect first and second signal transmission cables 1,3, an electrical connector 4 is provided and includes a base seat 41, a circuit board 43 mounted on the base seat 41, a terminal member 44 mounted on the circuit board 43, a socket member 42 formed on the base seat 41 for insertion of the wire terminal plug 14 such that the transmission wires 12 are electrically connected to the circuit board 43 via the terminal member 44, and a terminal seat 45. The terminal seat 45 has two lateral walls 451 which extend parallel to each other, and each of which have four insert slots 452 that are formed therein and that extend parallel to one another to snugly grip transmission wires 32 of the signal transmission cable 3. In each insert slot 452, a terminal 455 is disposed to electrically contact the respective transmission wire 32, and is electrically connected to the circuit board 43. Thus, the electrical connection between transmission wires 12 and 32 of the first and second signal transmission cables 1 and 3 can be established. Another type of the terminal seat 5 is shown to have an elongate wall 51 with eight parallel-arranged insert slots 53 formed therein for snugly gripping the transmission wires 32 of the second signal transmission cable 3.
For long-distance signal transmission, the conventional electrical connectors described above will result in electromagnetic coupling effect among the transmission wires 32 of the signal transmission cable 3 at the terminal seats 45,5.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which is capable of minimizing electromagnetic coupling effect among transmission wires of a signal transmission cable connected thereon without the need for increasing the dimensions of the connector.
According to this invention, the electrical connector includes a base seat, and a socket member which is mounted on the base seat for insertion of a wire terminal plug of a first signal transmission cable in a longitudinal direction. A circuit board is mounted on the base seat, and has front and rear segments opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction and electrically connected to each other. A plurality of first terminals are mounted on and are electrically connected to the front segment of the circuit board, and are received in the connecting socket to be adapted to respectively and electrically connect with transmission wires of a first signal transmission cable when the wire terminal plug is inserted into the socket member. A terminal seat is mounted on the rear segment of the circuit board, and includes two lateral portions which are spaced apart from each other in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction and which extend forwardly in the longitudinal direction to form a respective front end, and a transverse portion which extends in the transverse direction between the front ends of the lateral portions. Each of the lateral and transverse portions extends from the circuit board upwardly in an upright direction transverse to the longitudinal and transverse directions to terminate at an upper wall surface. The upper wall surface of each of the lateral and transverse portions is formed with a plurality of insert slots which are displaced from one another. Each insert slot extends downwardly to be adapted to snugly grip a respective transmission wire of a second signal transmission cable by press fitting. A plurality of second terminals are respectively mounted in the insert slots, and are electrically connected to the second segment of the circuit board so as to respectively establish electrical connection with the transmission wires of the second signal transmission cable when the transmission wires are press-fitted respectively into the insert slots. By virtue of the transverse portion of the terminal seat, the distance between adjacent insert slots can be increased so as to increase the distance between the adjacent transmission wires of the second signal transmission cable which are snugly inserted into the insert slots, thereby reducing the electromagnetic coupling effect therebetween without the need to increase the dimensions of the electrical connector.